What now for India?

[LBT]

Despite an improved performance this test, still no cigar for India. Will moves be made by the selection comittee, surely exciting Verinder Sewag must come in, and i dunno about keeping "Instant Karma" in the side although his pace will be handy at the WACA.

[Pup]

Sehwag has to come in for Jaffer. He can not handle Brett Lee, dismissed him all 4 innings this series.

Yuvraj also has to go IMO. Pathan will have to be in the mix. Sharma played quite well for a young man, i think he will play again in Perth given the wicket. They would be crazy to play 2 spinners. No Singh = Ponting 100.

Bookmark that last comment.

[locky801]

Sewag has to come in in Perth, the wicket will suit him down to the ground, anyone that thinks India are down and out aresa bit behind the times, sit back at this test and look, Symonds out early, given not out, scored a ton when the Aussies were in big strife, same in the 2nd dig with Hussey and Symonds, both should have been given out early Symonds blasts 60 and Hussey gets a ton, lot of decisions went opposite for the Indians, few given out that weren't, the result I feel in this test match was unfortunately decided by poor umpiring decisions but you make your luck when you get it

[LBT]

Sehwag has to come in for Jaffer. He can not handle Brett Lee, dismissed him all 4 innings this series.

Yuvraj also has to go IMO. Pathan will have to be in the mix. Sharma played quite well for a young man, i think he will play again in Perth given the wicket. They would be crazy to play 2 spinners. No Singh = Ponting 100.
Bookmark that last comment.

Yeah he's due, hasn't been troubled by the other bowlers, in fact has hardly faced much other than Singh.

[whufc]

Sehwag HAS to come in. The interesting point is that Kumble and H.Singh are there two most dangerous bowlers by an absolute mile yet the word is the WACA is going back to its old fast bouncy self.

Should the Indians play two spinner on one of the most spinner unfriendly wickets in the world despite there two best bowlers being spinners?
Would dropping Singh be better balance for there team and would they have the guts to drop him? Surely if he his suspended they will play 3 quicks and Kumble .

[rod_rooster]

Despite an improved performance this test, still no cigar for India. Will moves be made by the selection comittee, surely exciting Verinder Sewag must come in, and i dunno about keeping "Instant Karma" in the side although his pace will be handy at the WACA.

I reckon Sharma should play. He shows a bit of promise. Nice high action and is reasonably sharp. WACA will suit him.

Jaffer and Yuvraj Singh are under enormous pressure. Can they drop both? Seriously Sewag can come in but who else?

Will they play the 2 spinners? Neither deserves to be dropped but can they play 2 in Perth. Kumble has to play as captain you'd think.

Irfan Pathan is one player i'd like to see play. Can bat, can bowl (and swings it too). Very unlucky not to be in the side IMHO.

Some headaches for the Indians. They just don't appear to have a combination that resembles a balanced side to be honest.

[whufc]

My Indian team for the next test would be

Sehwag
Dravid
Laxman
Tendulkar
Ganguly
Dhoni
Pathan (give him a go he has batted a 3 in the ODI lineup must have talent)
Kumble
H.Singh
R.Singh
Sharma

They haven't really looked like having the ability to bowl Australia out twice in a test on pitches that should have suited them. Throw caution to the wind have faith in their superstar batsmen and have enough bowling options with variety to be able to bowls us out twice.

[RoosterMarty]

Dravid should not open for a start. Drop him down the order. He is in average form and puts pressure on his team mates. It's all well and good for an opener to face a few balls and take the shine off the new ball but you still need to make runs out there, not score 20 off 150 balls.

Yuvraj should go as well, he's a hack.

[rod_rooster]

Dravid should not open for a start. Drop him down the order. He is in average form and puts pressure on his team mates. It's all well and good for an opener to face a few balls and take the shine off the new ball but you still need to make runs out there, not score 20 off 150 balls.

Yuvraj should go as well, he's a hack.

I agree. Jaffer should also go. Problem is who comes in?

Lets remember that Sewag has been in very poor form for a long time now. He will come in but you can't expect him to be the saviour. Also who else comes in?

[whufc]

Dravid should not open for a start. Drop him down the order. He is in average form and puts pressure on his team mates. It's all well and good for an opener to face a few balls and take the shine off the new ball but you still need to make runs out there, not score 20 off 150 balls.

Yuvraj should go as well, he's a hack.

They have no other choices, and part of an openers job is to occupy the crease and take the shine of the new ball. This problem will be reserected if they put Sehwag in the team to open with Dravid because of the natural pace Sehwag scores at the run-rate would still be over 3 very acceptable.

[RoosterMarty]

That is the problem. They have a lot of problems but not too many options, which is why Australia is so strong. We have backup for every position bar spin.

[THE BARKING SPIDERS]

in 'THE CRAPPATISER' the other day it had that sreesanth was fit & ready, could you pick him for perth

[LBT]

in 'THE CRAPPATISER' the other day it had that sreesanth was fit & ready, could you pick him for perth

Bring it on!!!

[whufc]

I don't think the current Indian fast bowlers are the problem. It's just the balance of the side, give them 100 goes and not once will they bowl Australia out twice in a test with Ganguly coming on first change, this may work in India to bide time till the spinners come on but not in Australia. You cant win a test match over here with only two quicks.

[LBT]

I don't think the current Indian fast bowlers are the problem. It's just the balance of the side, give them 100 goes and not once will they bowl Australia out twice in a test with Ganguly coming on first change, this may work in India to bide time till the spinners come on but not in Australia. You cant win a test match over here with only two quicks.

Parthan may be the option in that case.

[westozfalcon]

I agree that Irfan Pathan should come into the side. He bowled very well last time on tour out here in 2003/04. He had Hayden caught behind cheaply at Adelaide Oval opening the bowling on debut and Haydos was in world beating form at the time (not long after making that world record 380 v Zimbabwe in Perth).

Wasim Jaffer is out of his depth and should definitely be replaced by Sehwag. The way Jaffer batted today was pathetic. He looked like a frightened rabbit against Lee. He copped a short one then stood virtually rooted to the spot and nicked a regulation leg cutter to slip out of pure fear. It was a good ball but nothing that a Test opener shouldn't expect.

[Sheik Yerbouti]

Well after this

Australia v India, 2nd Test, Sydney, 5th day

Kumble questions Australia's spirit

Peter English at the SCG

January 6, 2008



Ricky Ponting reacted angrily when questions were raised over his appeal for a catch while fielding in close, when replays seemed to show it touching the grass when he landed © Getty Images




Anil Kumble has accused Australia of not playing in the spirit of the game in a heated finish to a Test that continued the ill-feeling between the teams. After a match filled with controversy it was revealed the BCCI would request Steve Bucknor, the "incompetent" official, be replaced for the third Test in Perth while Kumble will review the pre-series catching agreement he had with Ricky Ponting, who aggressively defended his integrity.

"Only one team was playing with the spirit of the game, that's all I can say," Kumble said after a day that included a horrible decision for Rahul Dravid and a claimed low, slip catch by Michael Clarke against Sourav Ganguly. The dismissal was sealed when Ponting told the umpire Mark Benson it was out, although television replays were, as usual, not conclusive.

"We'd like to play hard on the field and expect that from Australia as well," Kumble said. "I've played my cricket very sincerely and honestly, that's the approach my team takes, and we expect that from Australia as well. Sometimes it happens that in the heat of the moment you take those chances and then probably don't say anything on that. It's a part of the game."

Australia's sprint to victory with seven balls to spare was also overshadowed by the charges of racism tabled against Harbhajan Singh, a complaint which was raised on the field by Ponting, and an India team official was angry at the treatment towards the side during the 122-run defeat. India suffered heavily due to the poor umpiring and Chetan Chauhan, the India manager, believed they would not have lost if they had received 50% of the contentious calls.

"The way the umpiring was, the team is agitated and upset," he said. "A lot of decisions have gone against us. Of course a few went against the Australians also."

The crucial rulings involved Bucknor and Andrew Symonds, who was given not-out to a loud edge when he was 31 - he made 162 - and today he dismissed Dravid caught-behind when the ball flicked the batsman's pad. "Had some of the decisions, I would say 50% of them, were received in our favour, the result would have been different," Chauhan said. "It really affected us. We're not saying this because we have lost the game. It was for everybody to see."

Bucknor and Mark Benson both had matches to forget and Bucknor is due to stand in Perth from January 16. However, Chauhan said the BCCI was lodging "a strong protest" with the ICC "so that some of the incompetent umpires do not umpire in the rest of the series".

The Indians were not the only ones fuming. Ponting reacted angrily when asked about his appeal for a catch against Mahendra Singh Dhoni that was ruled not out because the batsman did not hit it. The ball ballooned away from Ponting at silly point and he dived to make an athletic take, which sparked loud appeals, but replays seemed to show it touching the grass.

"There's no way I grounded that ball. If you're actually questioning my integrity in the game, then you shouldn't be standing there," Ponting told an Indian journalist. "What I did in the first innings, doesn't that explain the way I play the game?" Ponting told the umpires he had not accepted an edge cleanly despite the appeals from the players around him.

"I'm saying I'm 100% sure I would have caught that catch off Dhoni," Ponting said. "As it turned out it was given not out anyway, am I right or wrong?"

Adam Gilchrist also took aim at criticism of Australia's delay in closing their second innings today, shouting "How about that declaration, Tony Greig" while Ponting was conducting a radio interview. The Indian media also made an official complaint to the BCCI about what a journalist called the "humiliating" treatment from Ponting during an abbreviated press conference before he attended the hearing involving Harbhajan.

Ponting believed there was nothing wrong with Australia's on-field conduct during the match. "I have absolutely no doubt about this match being played in the right spirit," he said. "There's been one little issue that's come out of the game, otherwise the spirit between both teams in both Tests has been excellent." In Sydney Kumble and India disagreed.

Peter English is the Australasia editor of Cricinfo

I'd say a 4 pronged pace attack with every second ball aimed at the groin.

[stan]

I agree that Irfan Pathan should come into the side. He bowled very well last time on tour out here in 2003/04. He had Hayden caught behind cheaply at Adelaide Oval opening the bowling on debut and Haydos was in world beating form at the time (not long after making that world record 380 v Zimbabwe in Perth).

Wasim Jaffer is out of his depth and should definitely be replaced by Sehwag. The way Jaffer batted today was pathetic. He looked like a frightened rabbit against Lee. He copped a short one then stood virtually rooted to the spot and nicked a regulation leg cutter to slip out of pure fear. It was a good ball but nothing that a Test opener shouldn't expect.

Yep Pathan is a must play. Should have played in Sydney.

As for Jaffer, well he made runs agains a pedestrain pakistani attack on a flat deck. Things are a bit different out hear old son.

[Rik E Boy]

India haven't been too bad so far IMO. In the first test they paid the price for their board not deciding to have more lead up matches in Australian conditions and Bucknor cheated them out of a draw in the second test.

India have a few problems but as has been noted in other threads, so do the Aussies. Jaffer clearly isn't up to it and the gamble on Yuraj Singh hasn't paid off. India have recently defeated Pakistan and England on their own decks, something India hasn't been able to do for many decades. Australia is a tough gig and the Indians are stiff not to be still in the series.

Sewag and Pathan should come in but Yuraj might stay in not that Harbirollan Singh has been given the big A.

regards,

REB

[MagicKiwi]

Ponting grounded that ball, it was plain to see. And he DID tell the umpire the batsman was out in the other incident. Hopefully he will be remembered for his batting prowess and not for what he has done to the game and our side in years to come.